Who Invited the Wizard?

Yesterday, Ava & I were guests at Miss Avery's birthday party.

My bestie-pal Ramie's daughter, Avery.

Avery's 4th birthday party at McDonald's was the bomb for the following reasons:

We feasted on nuggets, fries & chocolate milk.

The kids were able to expend all their energy running like wild animals through the playland.

Crave Cupcakes for dessert.  Hello.

A tornado watch was issued mid-party.

Exciting.....

...Aaand,

I think there may have been a wizard in our presence

{If only I had a taken his picture}

Kids + Cupcakes= Cute

Guess what grand adventure we'll be embarking on tomorrow?

Having our 2 year old twin nephews sleepover for the first time.

Wish us luck!

'Mommy, your polka dots are beautiful'

(Uber-cute birthday invite created with Picnik)

As in, my freckles.

A compliment as earnest and unique as this could only originate from my sweet, dearest Ava

(she told me this lastnight and I almost died from overwhelming sweetness overload-- true story.)

--who happens to be turning five in a week.

Happy face :)

Sad face :(

Confused face :/

A mixed bag of emoticon when you realize your baby's growing up.

Birthday Girl's cake request:

[drum roll inserted here]

A kitty cat cake.

To the liking of 'Marie'

from the Aristocats.

         Help.

Gramma's 51st Birthday Party

Not a dull moment.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary to these two love birds:

Dave & Kimmy

Still keeping the flame a blazin' five years later :)

It would appear summer decided to show her face again and finally bless us with some decently hot weather.

Maybe, just maybe,

we'll make it out to the lake sometime soon so we can really get to enjoy the heat.

A few important things from last week...

First, it was my niece Georgia and my mom's birthdays last week.

I come from a large family and married into a large family,

so you'll notice birthdays seem to pop-up nearly every week.

Birthday girly Georgia :)

Happy Birthday Mom (Grandma & Ava)!!

 And second.

I modeled last week.

And got paid for it.

James says that makes me a legitimate model.

I love how he humors me.

Take a sneak peek at the photos here.

Ava finished with her swimming lessons last week.

She'll be re-doing Sea Turtle.

....Until she can confidently fully dunk that little head of hers under water.

Aaron started his swim lessons this past Tuesday.

He said it was the best day of his life.

He says that a lot.

FYI- Last Friday was the worst day of his life no thanks to a stubbed and broken toenail.

I think I might start judging my days by best and worst ever...

It seems to make for good dramatic effect.

Took the kids to see Despicable Me.

I loved it.

Oh, and so did they.

It was our first time seeing a 3D movie.

Way cool.

Ava kept yelling 'It's BIG, it's BIG!!'.

I think that was her way of saying,


'holy moly, it's jumping out at me'.

I also went to see Inception on Tuesday.

With my brother Dustin, not the kids.

A real head scratcher that one.

I hate when they leave the ending up to your own deciphering.....

Can't you just tell me how it is?!

It was good though.

Real good.

And in closing...

Yesterday, I made Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting.

Cupcakes make me smile :)

10 Things from the Last 10 Days

1.  I was wrong about summer.  It's just as busy as any other time of the year.

2.  Aaron started summer hockey camp last Monday.  I was a smidgen concerned it might be over-kill considering he just finished inline 2 weeks ago, but the little guy was pumped to get on the ice.  Maybe it's the new skates?!

3.  Ava's got her own important schedule as well.  Swimming lessons began on Tuesday.  From what I gather, getting the kids to successfully dunk their heads under water without fear or hesitation is the main focus of the 'Sea Turtle' class.

Sounds advanced.

Maybe I  should have signed up too.....

(Yea, she's crazy like that.  Shera, Princess of Power!)

4.  Lessons have been going so well we decided to reward the kids with a night at the movies.  In hind sight, maybe a bad idea...

Warning to all parents:

Toy Story 3.

Great movie, however.....

During the movie, Ava broke into tears as the toys were seemingly coming to their (SPOILER ALERT) fire-y demise, stating 'I wanna go home and play with my toys!'?!
Weird.

She also commented, in a mildly uneasy manner, on 'Big Baby' looking oddly similar to her own baby.....

Resemblence?

Aaron kept us company in bed that same evening (the first in a long time) due to fear of the crazy-eyed, cymbal-bashing monkey.

'Do I frighten you?'

5.  It was my eldest neph-y poo, David Jr.'s 2nd birthday last week, as well as my niece Nevada's 8th.

Happy Birthday kiddos!

Nevada & Me, Kananaskis.  Luvs her :)

Baby Davey Jr.!

6.  James and I finally watched the season finale of LOST.

You Should Know- I'm ashamed to call myself a fan having waited this long to watch the last episode.

Bad fan!  Very bad fan!!

It was sad.  I was sad.

James was equally depressed,

stating he was not sure he'd be able to attend work on Monday.

RIP Jack Shephard.

7.  I received my Stella & Dot Soiree Earrings this week and they were just as lovely as a I had imagined...

SPARKLY :)

8.  We attended James' 10 year high school reunion.

Which made me wish I had attended my own reunion.

Which actually was cancelled due to lack of interest from a large number of my former classmates, including me (guilty),

......Which had me super relieved at the time.

I'm glad he/we went.  No one likes regrets :)

9.  Cray fishing is fun.

Until you fall in.

Just ask Aaron.

10.  I've been stumped as to what to blog about these last almost two weeks.

I assumed nothing all that interesting had gone on.

I think maybe I was wrong.     

Golden

This is me and my friend Ramie.

Tipi camping back in 2008.

Yes.  We are wearing matching hoodies.

Ramie is my one and only bestie from back in the day.... Well, highschool anyhow (we moved a lot).

We've been friends for over 11 years.

Today is her Golden Birthday.

28 on the 28th.

She's old balls now.

I can say that cuz she's older than me.

If I know Ramie, she'll despise that I chose that picture to display for all to see on her birfday.

So here's just one more:

Happy Birthday Ra'm.

Love ya bunches :)

PS- See you at the spray park! 

Direct Quote From the Birthday Boy Himself

While getting Aaron dressed for school this morning; after getting his t-shirt on he excitedly turns to me with a look of extreme pleasant surprise and says, "Good thing my clothes still fit now that I'm six!".

Four

Four years old already.

Is it still okay to call her my baby?

Last Week in Review

We had sooo much going on last week that I haven't been able to catch up on getting it all blogged-out. Tuesday, James and I took the kids to get our H1N1 vaccin-ations. We only had to wait in line for about an hour so that part wasn't too discouraging, but the whole needle ordeal was less than desirable. But, we survived and once the day came to a close I was feeling mostly relieved. That same day, Dave, Kim and their kids arrived in town. Kim and I had a bit of a girls morning the next day visiting Kirsten at The Beauty Parlour so Kim could get her hair did (looks FABULOUS, by the way!). Friday, we had dinner for James' dad at Japanese Village to celebrate his 50th birthday; this also being the purpose for Dave and Kim's visit. Dinner, as always, was excellent-- Love their Chicken Terriyaki and the 'Happy Song' is always a hoot (Haaaappy Birfdaaaay to You ;)! The weekend was all hockey and at this point it seems for the rest of my life, this'll be the case. Oh, forgetting to mention Halloween Saturday evening (see 'Halloween Apples!' below). Sunday evening, my girl Shelley treated me to a night out at Joey Tomatoes with Kim and Brandee keeping us company. And I suppose to finish the whole crazy week off, we ended Monday evening with a bang, literally-- Fireworks at the farm!

Jack-O-Lanterns & Sassy Cake

It was my birthday yesterday. 27 big ones... Or, as Ramie likes to call it 'Old Balls'. Like the last couple of years, there really is no official plan for the day. Basically, we have cake and whoever shows up on the doorstep joins us in celebrating-- It works out great! Among the dropper-byers... Dustin, Dad, his wife Alicia and James' friend Dave from work and his wife Shanna (lovely american girl). The festivities yesterday included dinner, coffee & pumpkin carving. Loooove pumpkin carving!! I ended-up being too busy to get my own pumpkin carved so you'll have to check back in later for that (It'll be nothing short of fantastic and will certainly out-do the cinderella carving from last year... Oh yes, it will). It was a great night. These 27 years of my life so far, have been blessed... And I'm just really grateful to have the awesomeness of the best, most loving family and friends a girl could ask for.

Love you all! XOXO

Anna Banana

Have to give a shout out to my little niece Anna today, as it's her third birthday! Happy Birthday, Anna!!

The Value of a Quarter Century

She's my baby sister, bosom buddy and best friend.  And today she's 25 years old.  How crazy is that?!  Sisters for a quarter century now (sounds nutty, doesn't it?)!  I thank God for putting Kirsten in my life and in my children's lives, as well.  And here's where I really lay on the cheese (my apologies, but there's really no other way to express my feelings without sounding slightly corny-- but it's worth it!): she laughs with me, she cries with me, she sticks by me even when I rock the boat, she encourages me to strive for more, she's freakin' funny, her heart is one of the most generous I've known, she's sensitive to others' feelings, she witnessed the birth of my first born (against her will, but none the less... lol), she adores my kids and loves them unconditionally, she covers my roots, keeps me stylish (I'm a work in progress...) and she's always got my back.  I could go on and on.... and on, literally.  To sum it all up, she gets me and I get her.  I love her dearly and look forward to the great things that are going to happen in her life; blessed that I can be a part of them.

Happy Birthday, Kirst!

We're Baaaaack!

Home sweet home- Just got home from our Kananaskis trip yesterday late afternoon! We had a great time, got to see family from far, far away (B.C., lol)... It was a great sense of accomplish-ment having the whole crew travel there, arrive safe and sound, and enjoy each others company. We've never gotten together like this before, so if it sounds strange to say it was an accomplishment-- really, a family of this size (22 of us in total) makes you wanna shout 'We did it!!', lol. Again, the kids had a great time. For the most part, we barely seen them all weekend as they were off frolicking in nature with their cousins. The only downside to speak of was the million-and-one outhouse trips we had to make with the kids (Okay, I say million, but I really mean, like, every half-hour 'I gotta pee!'). Highlights of the weekend: connecting with distant relatives, playing Phase 10 with my sis-in-laws, birthday celebration for James' mom, scenic trip into Kananaskis Village, and a good ol' fashioned camp-out in the Trapper's Tent with my fam!

I'm Prepared... Mostly.

Just finished the long weekend, and now, buckling down to get ready for this upcoming weekend's events-- Tipi Camping in Kananaskis! It's James' mom's 50th birthday this Saturday and all of us kids (4 sons, 3 wives, 12 grand kids) are making our way out to Kananaskis Country to celebrate it. It'll be the first time all of us will be venturing out on a camping trip together, so I'm convinced, there is some great fun to be had! James' brother Dave, his wife and their two kids are even traveling from Penticton to join us on this crazy expedition. This will be my fourth time camping at Sundance Lodges. I recommend it to everyone! Glorified camping at its finest!! My mom originally took us out there about 7 years ago and I'm so glad she did. It's a little piece of heaven right here in Alberta.

I'm about as prepared as I'll ever be. I started getting the dry goods and whatnot about 2 weeks ago-- actually purchased Rubbermaid storage tubs (**gives the appearance of professional campers**-- a look we're trying to go for. If you can't make it-- Fake it.); desperately trying to catch up on the laundry before Thursday... I tell ya, organization does not come easy for me-- but I think I may actually be succeeding!

The best part is, without having to plan some big, over-the-top vacation outside of the country... This four hour drive away from the city will be one of the best memories together as a family, all year.

*Photos are of last year's Kananaskis trip*

Happy Birthday Nevada & Georgia!

Today we attended a duo birthday bash for my nieces, Nevada (7) and Georgia (4). A good time was had by all, especially with the new trampoline addition. After Aaron had a bit of a warm up, he became a wild man attempting somersaults and flips while Ava was content to happily hop around. After some pinata action, cupcakes, gifts and a few more rounds on the trampoline, we said our goodbyes and headed home for a quiet evening.